With a name like ‘widowbird,’ you’d expect this dusky male to have a low-key love life. But those 20-inch-long tail feathers are highly favored by females, even though they can make it difficult for the males to fly on windy days. The display has been the subject of much study regarding sexually selected traits and the tradeoffs between physical constraint and attracting a mate, since the tail feathers don’t seem to aid in flight and may even cause a hinderance. Ah, the things we do for love.
Longtailed widowbird at Rietvlei Nature Reserve, South Africa
Today in History
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Redwood National and State Parks, California
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Happy Boxing Day!
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European fallow deer in England
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Juneteenth
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The buzz about bees
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Shi Shi Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington
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It’s Penguin Awareness Day
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Happy International Zebra Day!
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April Fools Day
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Boxing Day—a shopper’s delight
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Harvest time in the Palouse
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Oktoberfest begins
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Wander the ancient medina
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Skyscraper Day
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New Year’s Day in the land of the rising sun
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International Haiku Poetry Day
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FOR FOREST by Klaus Littmann
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Daylight saving time
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A center of antiquity on the Mediterranean
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National Bison Day
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‘You should see the one that got away!’
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Barcelona bids farewell to summer
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Autumnal equinox
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National Hummingbird Day
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Presidents Day
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Salmon migration in full swing
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Stompin’ with the Big Chief
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Tigh Mor Trossachs on Loch Achray, Scotland
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Perseid meteor shower over Oregon
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Collared aracari in Costa Rica